| "Powdered Toast Man" | |
|---|---|
| The Ren & Stimpy Show episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 1b |
| Directed by | John Kricfalusi |
| Story by | John Kricfalusi Richard Pursel |
| Production code | RS5-1B |
| Original air date | August 15, 1992 |
| Guest appearance | |
| Frank Zappa as the Pope | |
"Powdered Toast Man" is the second episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show . It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 15, 1992.
Powdered Toast Man is a superhero who lives under the disguise of Pastor Toast Man, a well-liked youth deacon and government clerk; like Superman, he successfully hides his identity with only a pair of glasses despite his exceptional appearance. His assistant is the only one who knows of his second life and notifies him whenever help is needed. He sets off to his daily superhero routine of fighting evil.
Powdered Toast Man notices a cat almost to be run over by a truck; he assesses the situation and spits raisins at a nearby airplane, which crashes on the truck, severely injuring everyone on board yet the cat is miraculously unharmed. He nevertheless foolishly throws the cat aside before leaving, causing it to be actually be run over by another vehicle.
Powdered Toast Man flies to Antarctica, where he finds the Pope tied to a barrel of TNT, being held hostage by a malevolent Muddy Mudskipper. He teleports through the keyhole and saves the Pope after incapacitating Muddy with powder shots frim his armpit. Just as the barrel is about to explode, he pretends to save Muddy, only to tie him on the barrel instead as punishment. The Pope grabs onto Powdered Toast Man's buttocks to ensure he does not get blown off, but is temporarily relocated on an iceberg while Powdered Toast Man continues his work. He flies to Ren and Stimpy's house to provide the duo with powdered toast, which they do not find appealing until he farts on it.
Powdered Toast Man finds his "toast particles" dissipating, realizing the President is in trouble. He teleports to the White House, only to find the President has his intimate part caught in his zipper. Powdered Toast Man helps him with this menial task, but his brutal method renders the President unable to work, hence he makes Powdered Toast Man the President. Powdered Toast Man is distracted by a cold breeze, as he realizes that the fireplace was not lit; he burns two dusty documents revealed to be the United States Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States, ending the episode by roasting food on the fireplace with the assistant.
John Kricfalusi had wanted to do a "special" episode that would feature the voice of Frank Zappa, whom he idolized and inspired him to write "Powdered Toast Man". [1] At the time, Zappa was dying of prostate cancer and his performances were recorded at his home, as Zappa was too ill to travel to Spümcø at Los Angeles. [1] The character of Powdered Toast Man had first appeared in the mock TV ads in the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. [2] Kricfalusi had wanted to do more with the character in the second season. Unlike many of the other episodes of season two, and unusually for an episode directed by Kricfalusi, "Powdered Toast Man" was completed on time for its scheduled premiere in August 1992. [3] The episode was animated at Rough Draft Korea in Seoul. [4]
"Powdered Toast Man" generated a firestorm of controversy when it aired in 1992, being widely denounced for being "anti-American" owing to the scene where Powdered Toast Man burns documents notable to American history. [5] Nickelodeon and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was flooded with complaints over the "anti-American" episode, with one viewer, Kay Claire, writing in to the FCC to say that, after watching "Powdered Toast Man", "I was so repulsed, I couldn't calm down. I was outraged when I saw that program. I want that cartoon pulled from the air because it has no social value whatsoever". [5] The burning scene attracted so much attention that the overtly sexualized appearance of the character known only as Catholic Schoolgirl Assistant, implications of a romantic relationship between the two after their fireplace dinner in the White House, and a scene where the Pope clings to the oversized buttocks of Powdered Toast Man passed almost unnoticed. [6] In subsequent airings, the burning scene was censored while the rest of the episode went uncensored. [6]
Irish journalist Padraig Cotter praised "Powdered Toast Man" as the "ultimate parody of superheroes". [2] Cotter wrote: "Powdered Toast Man is a dark, but somewhat loving, parody of superheroes and comics. Despite being universally beloved within the show itself and having an ego to match, he's hilariously ill-suited to saving people. His lack of care often causes fatalities and, in most cases, it would have been better if he wasn't around to save the day at all...The fact nobody within Ren and Stimpy appears to realise how awful he is becomes part of the gag". [2] The character of Powdered Toast Man became so popular as a result of the episode that in 1993 he had a cross-over appearance in the Spider-Man comics where he faced Spider-Man, as Marvel Comics published comics based on the series. [2] In 1994, the character of Powdered Toast Man returned in the episode "Powdered Toast Man vs. Waffle Woman", which was a pilot episode for a possible spin-off series featuring him. [7]
The Ren & Stimpy Show, commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy, is an American-Canadian comedy animated television series created by John Kricfalusi and developed by Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, Jim Smith and Lynne Naylor for Nickelodeon. Originally produced by Spümcø, the series aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, with its last episode airing on MTV on October 20, 1996, spanning for a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotionally unstable and psychotic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy, a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat. It is the third to be aired of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as "Nicktoons", alongside Doug and Rugrats, and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand.
Spümcø, Inc. was an American animation studio that was active from 1989 to 2005 and based in Los Angeles, California. The studio was best known for working on the first two seasons of The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon and for various commercials. The studio won several awards, including an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject for the music video of the song "I Miss You" by Björk.
George Liquor is a cartoon character created by John Kricfalusi. Liquor is most famous for his appearances on The Ren & Stimpy Show. He is considered Kricfalusi's signature character and was a mascot for Kricfalusi's defunct animation studio, Spümcø. Kricfalusi portrayed George Liquor as a patriotic, outspoken, politically conservative blowhard. Kricfalusi described Liquor as his favorite character to animate.
"Robin Höek" is the third episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 25, 1991. This episode is the first in a short-lived series of episodes called Stimpy's Storybook Land, which parody children's literature.
Ren Höek and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat, created by John Kricfalusi, are the title characters in the Nickelodeon animated series The Ren & Stimpy Show, and its 2003 spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon". Kricfalusi created the characters during his stay at Sheridan College and they first appeared on film in the pilot episode "Big House Blues". Ren is a scrawny, emotionally unstable, and psychotic "Asthma Hound" Chihuahua, and his best friend Stimpy is a dim-witted, good-natured Manx cat. The show portrays their wacky, bizarre, and often surreal misadventures.
"Son of Stimpy" is the twelfth episode from the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on MTV in the United States in January 13, 1993, after multiple delays due to its unusually long length of 21 minutes and objectionable content; an edited version would later air on Nickelodeon.
"Stimpy's Cartoon Show" is the seventh episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 8, 1994.
"Man's Best Friend" is an episode from the second season of the American animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show. It was originally intended to air on Nickelodeon on August 22, 1992, as the second half of the second episode of Season 2, but was pulled before airing and replaced by a censored version of "Big House Blues". It eventually aired on the soft launch of Spike TV on June 23, 2003. In the episode, Ren and Stimpy learn about obedience after George Liquor takes them home with him and swears to make them "champions".
"A Visit to Anthony" is the eighteenth and penultimate episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 8, 1993.
"Hard Times for Haggis" is the 13th episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 30, 1994.
"Big House Blues" is a 1990 American animated comedy film produced by Spümcø. Originally screened at a film festival, with a censored version later airing on Nickelodeon, it was succeeded by The Ren & Stimpy Show on the network, to which it serves as a pilot episode.
"Mad Dog Höek" is the eighth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 21, 1992.
Jerry The Bellybutton Elf is the 12th episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 9 1994.
"Stimpy's Big Day!" is the first episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 11, 1991.
"The Big Shot!" is the second episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 11, 1991.
"Fake Dad" is the fourteenth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on February 27, 1993.
"The Cat That Laid the Golden Hairball" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 3, 1993.
To Salve and Salve Not! is the first episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 20, 1993.
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